Police responded to a report of an unresponsive woman shortly after 5 a.m. Dec. 10 at 245 S. Franklin Ave. in Ames, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. Tashara Burnside was taken to Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames and then Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. She was pronounced dead a week later.

Dalgliesh is listed in court documents as living in the 3000 block of Diamond Street in Ames. She told police the couple lived together.

Dalgliesh told responding officers that the two used U4 together the night before, records show. Officers found the drug after getting a search warrant and an autopsy later showed that Burnside's death was due to an opiate overdose.

Investigators found, through correspondence between Dalgliesh and the person who sold her the drug, that Dalgliesh knew it was "a powerful and potentially lethal opioid," records show.

The drug creates a feeling of euphoric relaxation and can be 7.5 times the strength of morphine, Rolling Stone reported. It was linked to 46 deaths in 2015 and 2016, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which said in a post that "its abuse parallels that of heroin, prescription opioids, and other novel opioids."

"It's a chemistry experiment gone wrong, basically," Huff said.

The drug gained popularity on the coasts and has worked its way into the Midwest, he said. In a college town, Huff said he fears that students will be the target audience and that incidents could increase when school starts.

"Hopefully, we can figure out a way to stop it before it gets here," he said.

Burnside, a lifelong Ames resident who was 25 when she died, was remembered in an obituary as being unique and as having a "smile that was contagious and could light up a room."

"Her heart was filled with love and compassion," it reads.

She was a general manager at a sub sandwich shop and played in multiple bands, according to the obituary.

Dalgliesh's previous charges this year include theft from a Target store and an OWI, court records show. She posted a $2,000 bond on Monday, and her preliminary hearing is set for July 3.

Police are seeking the person or people that sold the drug as well, Huff said.